Preparation of concrete floorings to receive topping layers



Oct. l, 1935. 2,015,875 PREPARATION OF CONCRETE FLOORINGS TO RECEIVE TOPPING LAYERS F. P. sL AN Filed July 12, 1933 Patented a. 1, 1935" UNITED STATES PREPARATION OF CONCRETE FLOOBIlVGS TO RECEIVE TOPPING LAYERS f Francis P. Sloan, Scarsdale, N. Y.

Application July 12, 1933, Serial No. 680,042

. 6 Claim.

This invention relates to preparation of concrete flooring surfaces to receive topping layers.

A typical utility is the preparing of the rough under-floor or concrete arch to receive a super ,5 posed "or final cement layer or topping; and the preparation-may comprise generally speaking the preliminary step of roughing the floor, preferably in a specialmanner, and the subsequent clearing of the rough floor by a wet method leaving it clean in and wetted toreceive the topping cement.

The general object of the invention is to afford a method of preparing the rough concrete flooring so as to produce, a superior bonding surface for receiving the new or topping layer. A specific object is to bring about the complete removal of dbris by the use of water so as toleave a rough floor clean to 'a maximum degree. The term dbris is intended to include detritus, as chips, sand, gravel, mortar and the like, and any other loose dirt such as dust, soot, lime, insoluble liquids, etc. A further object is to reduce cost and save time and labor as compared with other systems, and to reduce the amount of water needed for wet clearing operations. Other and further objects and advantages will be explained in the hereinafter following description of an illustrative embodiment of the invention or will be understood by those conversant with the art.

Describing first the invention in a broad aspect as applied to flooring it may be said, as to one feature, to comprise the method of clearing dbris from rough concrete flooring preparatory to applying a topping layer thereon which consists in directing methodically upon successive sections or areas of the floor, in order to drive progressively forward the dbris, a thin pencil or a lance of water in an inclined direction and at high pressure and velocity, such as to penetrate,- probe and-clear the depressions, and to project or catapult forwardly the dbris for deposit at an area beyond while the water pencil is dissipated or breaks up into spray; this method permitting quick action and progress so that a minimum of total water is required for the clearing work, and avoiding flooding of the floor, so that there is no stratum of water to be penetrated in driving the dbris out of the recesses and so that there is no flow-back tending to return a part of the dbris to the cleared areas. This improvement, coupled with a system of progressive removal and disposal of accumulations, affords a complete systematic mode of effecting the desired objects. Auxiliary to this main'feature the present invention comprises the preferred preparatory step of roughing the flooring by producing, therein bonding grooves of generally parallel or nonintersecting arrangement. this greatly facilitating the subsequent steps oftclearing the floor in advance of, laying the topping. The roughing step may be performed either before the setting of the under-floor, namely by scoring or raking the soft surface, or on the other hand may be performed subsequently to setting by mechanical roughing means such for example as that illustrated in my copending application Serial No. 616,284 filed 10 June 9, 1932, patented July 3, 1934, No. 1,964,746. Instead of following the described roughing step directly by the wet-clearing method, preferably all easily removable dbris will first be removed by brooming, whichbrooming action is substanl5 tially improved by the'parallel arrangement of roughing grooves, the brooming being performed in the the general direction of the grooves. It must be understood however that these preliminary steps are only preferable and that the main features may be practiced upon a flooring which has been roughed or scored in' any manner, by intersecting grooves or otherwise.

Without the thorough removal of dbris for perfect union'with the new layer, the system of scoring or grooving the flooring is of no substantial advantage, and an ungrooved concrete surface or arch is preferable, and frequently employed, as being quite readily made clean to receive the topping layer. fiooring more practical and available.

A supplemental preferable step, useful in connection with the wet-clearing method described,

7 is the arrangement of pervious receivers or trays methodically in advance of the clearing action, namely in a manner to receive the projected dbris, these sheets or trays being placed upon the flooring, and after becoming loaded by the clearing action being progressively lifted and carried away for the disposal of the removed dbris. This system is especially useful for. floors that are level and therefore not self draining towards a disposal point. When the complete method is finished the flooring is of maximum cleanness to receive and bond efiiciently with the topping layer and, advantageously, is thoroughly wetted for reception of the topping.

The accompanying drawing illustrates dia-" grammatically the principles of the improvement.

Fig. l is a sectional vi w'of a rough concrete surface or flooring over which a water pencil or lance is being played to clear or forcibly blast the dbris out of the grooves; the illustrated flooring being intended to include roughening or grooves either parallel or of other arrangement.

This invention makes the grooved 30 Fig. 2 is a partial view similar to Fig. 1 showing a smaller section of flooring wherefrom the debris has been partially cleared by dry or brooming methods.

Fig. 3 is purely a motion diagramillustrating one methodical way inwhich the operator can play the water pencil upon the floor surface for the systematic clearing of successive areas thereof.

Fig. 4 is a. view partly in section showing a preferred form of water nozzle which has been found satisfactory for the described purposes.

Fig. 5 in perspective illustrates a practical application of the invention, upon a parallelgrooved floor, and with pervious receivers arranged to receive the dbris projected by the water pencil.

Referring first to the diagram Fig. 1, dbris 9 is seen overlying the rough surface or flooring in and filling the bonding depressions, recesses or grooves II, which willnaturally be more or less irregular in depth and arrangement and which may in some cases represent intersecting scorings or'grooves, but in the preferred embodiment of my complete method represent generally parallel or non-intersecting grooves. Area by area, the flooring may be thoroughly cleaned by the described principles. A water nozzle i2 is shown as delivering a pencil or lance it of water at highpressure and velocity, such that the water cannot accumulate in the depressions but blasts its way into and out of them, rebounding as at M, breaking itself into a more or less fine spray, by which the water is largely dissipated and much of it evaporated and even entrained and carried away with natural air currents, while the removedand projected dbris, is lifted bodily from the flooring and catapulted forwardly to less or greater distances as indicated at I5 depending upon the size and weight of the particles.

Fig. 1 shows the water pencil at substantial incline, which may represent of course not only an incline in the plane of the drawing, but an incline to the plane of the drawing, and as the pencil is swung it will frequently or even generally extend in a plane substantially at right angles to the drawing, that is, so that a vertical plane through the pencil may coincide with a groove represented by one of the depressions, thus affording an ideal clearing action, more fully developed in Fig. 5. The actual incline may be varied between 30 and 70? to the plane of the floor, in the judgment of the operator.

Dry brooming alone is absolutely inadequate for thorough clearing, and where relied on has frequently been accompanied by expedients such as applying a very wet grout, intended to absorb the remaining dbris and incorporate it in the grout, a manifestly inefilcient' system, resulting in a poor bond. Wet clearing, with or without dry brooming, is one used method of clearing rough floor, but so far as I am aware this has always been done with fire hose or by water jets of such large diameter and volume and such low pressure as to be ineflicient and inadequate in several respects including the undue surplus of loose water with which the flooring is flooded, thus creating a layer or barrier to the efficient penetration of the grooves, and operating as well to flow back and carry dbris again into the areas that have been operated upon. These give a mere washing action, without thorough scouring of recesses, and without the distinctive impacting,

of water, in a very short space of time, gives a 5 very thorough clearing of the treated areas, the

rebounding water being dissipated and the debris being catapulted to a sulllcient distance to insure that the cleared area will remain clear, and incidentally permitting a system of pervious receivers 10 for the reception and removal of the rejected dbris. The action is diagrammatically illustrated in Fig. l, and the emptying of each groove or recess may be compared with the futile attempt to fill a teaspoon with water issuing from a forcible 5 jet or hydrant.

The same principles are illustrated in Fig. 2, the pencil l3 however not having reached to the depression II; but in Fig. 2 the depressions or grooves are supposed to have been mechanically 20 broomed, leaving less debris to be cleared than is indicated in Fig. 1. Preliminary dry brooming of labor, it being understood that any obstinate or special areas may require prolonged treatment. The thin water pencil hereof and the continuous clearance of successive areas improve control in that the action is visible and the operator can 35 see the place of impact of the pencil, and by observation play the pencil and advance the operation.

The nozzle l2 may be attached to the end of a flexible hose l8 of ample diameter, and the nozzle 0 may be of the form indicated in section in Fig. 4, namely with a straight cylindrical bore, preferably circular and of suflicient length to insure a straight parallel pencil or core of water, without causing undue impeding of velocity by friction within the nozzle. Figs. 1, 2 and 5 indicate a slight breaking away of water particles from the core or pencil, the core itself however remaining intact to the greatest possible extent, for the pencil or lance for present purposes, the object being to impact upon the flooring with maximum pressure and velocity and with such small effective cross sectional area of pencil as to be able to probe into and scour clean each depression encountered by the jet. If desired the nozzle may be elongated or arranged so that its exit is only a few inches, rather-than a couple of feet above my the floor.

It is found that ordinary municipal water pressure is insufficient for present purposes, and in Fig. 5 is illustrated a boosting pump ll receiving the regular water supply and driving it through 65 the large diameter hose It to the nozzle i2. Provision may be made for shutting off water at will, either by stopping the pump, or by a cock at the nozzle with a by-pass at the pump.

Fig. 5 also illustrates the feature of the present 70 invention of arranging pervious trays in advance of the clearing action for the reception and removal of the projected solids. Thus a first series of burlap layers I8 is shown and beyond that a second series l9. These will receive the bulk of this the solids and a proportion of the water projected fromithe flooring area infront of them. when ea has been completed the series ll' of receiv ,say 3 feet wide, maybe lifted away and the contents disposed off these or another series being laid uponthe" floor say 8 to 12 feet, more or less, depending on the quantity of foreign material on the floor, beyond the series Is, for the next clearing operation. In this way progressive removal and disposal of the accumulations is effected with great efliciency, and with minimum i time, labor and water consumption.

Q be from 150 to 250 pounds, while 450 to 500 pounds or more is found to give quite superior results will be low enough to carry out the objects and as to thoroughness of clearing, quickness of action, distance of removal and minimizing of surplus water. The bore and length of the nozzle may be varied somewhat in accordance with the pressure; and in any case the velocity will be quite high and readily calculable and the num-. ber of gallons of water used per minute per nozzle prevent flooding of the areas worked upon. A

considerable number of square feet of area per 1 minute per nozzle can readily .be cleared, de-

pendent upon the skill of the workman; and the system is found to be not only through, and to give a superior bonding result, but to be actually, economical both of labor and water expense.

The illustrated operations may be varied in many ways, for example by providing multiple nozzles, or by mounting the nozzles on a wheeled support movable across the floor in various ways. The thin pencil of water is greatly advantageous over a thick stream or jet, in that it can enter, scour and leave a recess at high velocity, whereas a thick stream striking alarger area tends to balk itself by counter flow within the recess, losing its velocity and projecting force.

3 A practical velocity of water pencil and impact herefor may be about 200 lineal feet per second, or perhaps as low as 150, but, preferably higher than these figures where practicable. Velocity of 200 feet per second of a inch pencil requires only about 8ga110ns of water per minute.

The present invention diflers critically from prior floor clearing systems. of water consumption avoids flooding and the forming of pools, and therebyv prevents the drawbacks of the 'mere washing action of prior wet systems, producing instead, by the impacting power of the high velocity water pencil, a bodily lifting and projection of particles, the grooves or recesses being left clear, all loose matter being dislodged, and the small amount of water being readily taken care of and removed from areas beyond that worked on with sufficient celerity to permit. continuous operation of the present system over any given floor area.

To illustrate the disproportionate advantage and the critical change of practical results by increasingthe pressure from'say 100 to 300 lbs.

per square inch, the following considerations are recited in general terms. Multiplying the pressure by 3 increases the water jet velocity, though The very small rate by a somewhat loss factor. and-this velocityincrease makes acriticai change in the character of the action. Accompanying the velocity increase is an increase of volume or rate of. water flow in practically direct proportion. The flow -1 rate then me direct function of the velocity.

The principle hereof is the minimizing of water volume or flow rate while enhancing the clearing action. High impacting energy of the water pencil or Jet is desired since the erosive or disruptive 0 force or power to overcome cohesion and adhesion and dislodge dbris is dependent on that. -'The impacting energy is a function of the square of the impacting velocity, that is, for a unit mass or volume of water. Therefore, for a unit of time 15 the delivered energy is a function of the square of the velocity multiplied by the flow rate, and since the latter is a direct function of the velocity the impacting energy is a function of the cube of the velocity.

The result is that with increase of pressure, velocity and flow rate, the dislodging poweror energy increases very rapidly. Assuming tripling of pressure, and roughly, consequent doubling of velocity, the delivered force would be increased 8 times. v The small pencil of the higher velocity there fore has the advantage of'relativelyvery large erosive power for'the purposes of the present invention, very much out of proportion to the increase of pressure, velocity and water volume: besides having the capability of probing or lancing thoroughlythe small recesses and grooves. the relatively low water volume per unit of time avoids excess water and flooding, especially as the enhanced impacting energy. allows more rapid progress and requires minimum time and water for each-unit of floor area. .By this, and the forcible projection and scattering of the impacting spray, flooding is wholly avoided, wherefore 4o plication of this invention serves to-drive forward such accumulation out of and beyond the basin,

and at high speed by virtue of the velocitmof the pencilgand the known fact that the transporting power of water flow varies with the 6th power of the speed of the surface flow ensures eifective carrying away of detritus mixed with the water.

The invention claimed is: 1. The method of clearing a rough or'grooved concrete flooring of extended horizontal area in preparation for receiving and bonding a cement topping layer thereon, wherein a water jet is played upon the flooring at a substantial down- 05 ward incline and advanced progressively from section' to section of flooring area under observation; characterized in that the water jet is a thin pencil of water delivered at such high pressure and velocity as to penetrate and clear the flooring surface depressions, and to project forwardly from each section to a place beyond the dbris resting thereon, and to scour the concrete surface into clean condition for the integral uniting of the topping layer thereto; and characterized co- 16 over the flooring with such rapid progress coordinated with the rate .of vwater deliveryas to prevent excess of water and resulting obstructiveflooding and backfiow, whereby the water ward incline and advanced progressively from section to section of floorlngarea under observation; characterized in that the water jet is a thin.- pencil of water delivered at such high pressure; and velocity as to penetrate and clear the floor-.-

ing surface depressions, and to project forwardly the dbris from each section to a section beyond that being operated upon, and to scour the concrete surface into' clean condition for the integral uniting of the topping layer thereto; and characterized cooperatively in that the operation is advanced over the flooring with such rapid progress coordinated with the rate of water delivery as to prevent excess of water and obstructive flooding and backfiow upon the sections being cleared; and in methodically removing the resulting loose accumulations of dbris from each section in advance of the clearing operations thereon, namely, by progressively lifting and transporting such accumulations away from successive sections thereby to avoid-obstruction to the succeeding clearing operations thereon.

3. The method of clearing a rough or grooved concrete flooring of extended horizontal area in preparation for receivingand bonding a cement topping layer thereon, wherein a water jet is played upon the flooring at a substantial downward incline and advanced progressively from section to section of flooring area under observation; characterized in that the water jet is a thin pencil of water between and inch diameter delivered at such high pressure substantially above 150 pounds per square inch and consequent high velocity as to penetrate and eflectively clear the flooring surface depressions, and to project forwardly from each section to a place beyond the dbris resting thereon, and to scour the con- 2,015,875 operatively in that the operation is advanced crete surface into clean condition for the integral uniting of the topping layer thereto; and characterized cooperatively. in that'the operation is advanced over the flooring with such rapid progress coordinated with the rate of water de- :5

livery as to prevent excess of water andobstructiveflooding and backfiow upon the sections being cleared: and in methodically disposing of the resulting accumulations of dbris in advanceof the clearing operations.

4. The concrete flooring clearing method according to claim 1 and wherein the water pencil is substantially under 4 inch diameter and deliveredv under such high pressure as to have a velocityfsubstantially' above 150 feet per second.

5. Themethod of-clearing a rough orgrooved concrete flooring of extended horizontal area in preparation for receiving and bonding a cement topping layer thereon, wherein a water jet is played upon the flooring at a substantial downward incline and advanced progressively from section to section of flooring area under observation; characterized in that the water jet is a thin pencil of water delivered at such high pressure and velocity as to penetrate and clear the flooring surface depressions, and to project from each section to a place beyond the dbris resting thereon; and characterized cooperatively in that the operation is advanced over the flooring with such rapid progress as to prevent obstructive so flooding and backfiow; and in methodically removing or disposing of the resulting accumulations of projected dbris in advance. of the clearing operations, namely, byreceiving the same upon a system of pervious dbris carriers me- 85 thodically placed upon the uncleared flooring in advance of clearing operations and progressively transporting such carriers and accumulations away from successive flooringsections.

6. The flooring clearing method according to claim 5 and wherein the pervious carriers are laid in successive rows generally transverse to the direction of advance upon uncleared floor sections and the dbris is projected by the water pencil towards and upon each row of carriers in succession, and the loaded carriers are lifted and transported away from the successive rows to dispose of the accumulated dbris thereon and to expose the uncleared sections of such rows for similar clearing operations.

FRANClS P. SLOAN. 

